I'm glad these weren't read until my later years; whereas Lewis and Tolkien were read during adolescense. Now, Lewis and Tolkien are worth re-reading as adults i.e, Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, but here is their mytho-poetic mentor.

"Phantastes" is first.

Rudolph Otto wrote brilliantly of the Mysterium Tremendum, or marvel of the Holy Other. McDonald actually imparts the experience.

w.c.

My dad's a huge George McDonald fan. Phantastes, Lilith . . .

I read some of his shorter fiction as a youngster but found the novels too heavy going. At the time he seemed a lot stranger than Lewis and Tolkien (perhaps that makes him all the more interesting). Maybe I should revisit the novels.

He was a Church of Scotland "meenister", from Aberdeen, I think, and believed in universal salvation, which was way out of step with his Calvinist contemporaries.

Stephen:

Yes, although I'm only a third into Phatastes, he does seem to be heavier going than L or T, but has so far been well-worth it. There are moments of heart-rending delight, and horror portending redemption, that nurture and dilate the soul more deeply, or more easily, than either L or T.

Our psychic link is operating once again, w.c.

Just saw Chronicles of Narnia the other day. I'll give it ***** four stars. Lewis read MacDonald as a
boy, and he is the influence for the fantasy writing
as G.K. Chesterton is main influence for the religious writings of Lewis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_MacDonald

I've still never read the Narnia books or Tolkien's
trilogy, although I have them and may get A Round Tuit. Ditto for the Tolkien trilogy. Guess I am
culturally deprived. I feel that fantasy books are helpful in bypassing the rational mind and the thought processes of mythic membership level.

caritas, mm <*))))><